Watch Out!

The first word in English I understood without anyone’s help was “watch out.” I was 12 at the time and had been living in Alabama, USA, for about month, when one very lazy afternoon I had my language epiphany. I was watching a John Wayne movie, and in it, a young man seemed to be at all the wrong places at all the wrong times. So when Mr. Wayne yelled “watch-out” and a there was an Indian (now-a-days Native-American) nearby, I assumed it meant something like “Hey, look at the Indian!” But when the same expression was used to warn the helpless lad about a stampede, a waterfall and the very obvious bad guy of the movie, my 12-year-old self pretty much realized that “watch out” could not be “hey-look-at-the-Indian-waterfall-cows-and-baddie.” It had to mean something like “danger” or “be-careful” -which, as we all know, it does.

Television and movies offer an exceptional opportunity to learn a second language, because they usually show an expression followed by an action or reaction. You hear, you see, and if you are in the right frame of mind, you learn. It’s possible that your conclusions may not be quite correct (for a long time I believed that the name of the TV show M.A.S.H was “banana camp,” because that was the tag line used in the promotion), but more often than not, you will very close to the right meaning. And if you are mistaken, chances are that, once you realize your error, you will never forget the new word or phrase, especially if your blunder is rather funny or bizarre.

So, watch as much TV and movies in your target language as you can. Start with short programmes and watch them more than once. Do some word fishing, that is, listen for words that you already know and write down how many times are they used. Or do some word hunting: write a word that catches your attention, see how it fits in the context and figure-out the meaning. Then check yourself and see how close were you to the general idea. TV will also allow you to hear how natives really speak in a day-to-day situation; the expressions, contractions and intonations they use to communicate; it will open a window to their culture and values and give you the opportunity to get to know them better. Go, take advantage of internet, DVDs, satellite TV and cinema and find your own “Watch Out” moment. I promise, once you have it, you will never forget it.